


Eternally Hers

by Cornerofmadness



Category: Angel: the Series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-13
Updated: 2019-09-13
Packaged: 2020-10-17 12:56:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20621399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cornerofmadness/pseuds/Cornerofmadness
Summary: It’s such a sad reunion





	Eternally Hers

**Author's Note:**

> **Disclaimer** \-- I wish I owned it. Whedon does
> 
> **Warning** \-- none
> 
> **Author’s Note** \-- written for evil_little_dog in comment_fic for the prompt of any, any ‘you don’t seem that happy to see me.”

XXX

Music bubbled out of one of the Flats’ night clubs. Spike didn’t feel like going in and enjoying it, as much as he loved music. This wasn’t good night for it. The next several nights would be hard and he knew it. Taking a final drag on his cigarette – damn if they weren’t next to impossible to find these days – he flicked it away without the usual glittery arc that he had always liked. No, he smoked them right to the damn filters at this point to be sure he got his money’s worth.

He hadn’t expected to see the man he’d spotted standing away from the clubs down at the river’s edge. There was no mistaking him though, long black coat, big blocky head, uneven shoulders. Spike had too many decades to memorize that frame. He didn’t think they’d cross paths for another few days yet. He swaggered down next to him. Angel turned before Spike made it all the way there, no doubt scenting him. He scowled at Spike.

Spike smirked at Angel’s blatant irritation. “You don’t seem that happy to see me.”

Angel turned his attention back to the inky waters of the Cuyahoga River. “I wasn’t expecting you for another few days,” he said, echoing Spike’s thoughts.

“I wanted to take in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, didn’t I?” Spike replied, and Angel grunted. He knew that Spike wouldn’t have the heart to go sightseeing, not this visit but maybe it wasn’t the worst idea. It might help relieve the heaviness of this trip.

“I was about to head home.” Angel tilted his head up as if expecting to see pre-dawn, but they had hours yet. “I’m not in the mood to see many people.”

“Where is home?”

“A rental house not that far from here on the west side.” Angel smiled faintly. “There’s room for you if you need it.”

“Thanks, Peaches. I have my own place,” Spike lied. “But let’s go to your place.”

Spike followed Angel home. It was a nice place in a quiet area. Leave it to Peaches to pick the burbs. He wasn’t sure what to expect when they went inside but Angel’s unnatural brat was there drinking a bottle of stout and had his arm around Dawnie. The pain in her face broke Spike’s unbeating heart. He had half hoped she wouldn’t be here but on the other hand, he couldn’t imagine this week without her.

Dawn pried herself up and crushed herself to Spike’s chest. He held her tight, stroking her long silky hair.

“Oh, li’l bit, it’s so good to see you,” he mumbled, thinking why had he let five years pass since the last time they’d been together.

“I can’t believe it’s been this many years,” she said, wiping her wet cheeks.

“None of us can,” Angel said. 

Spike nodded, giving Connor a jut of his chin. Connor saluted him with the beer bottle.

“I think Spike’s staying,” Angel said, sauntering into the kitchen. He came back with two beers, handing one off to Spike. “I can’t believe we’re actually doing this.”

“Seems like a good celebration of Buffy’s life,” Spike said but the words broke, and he started to mist up. He looked away but not before he saw the tears standing in Angel’s eyes.

“Us patrolling the Cleveland hellmouth for a month in her honor? Sounds like something she’d appreciate,” Connor said, and Dawn nodded, unable to stem her tears. Connor leaned over and plucked some tissues out of the box on the coffee table, handing them to her. She smiled at him.

Spike shook his head. “She wouldn’t want you here, Li’l Bit.”

Dawn wrinkled her nose. “I know but how long have I been a Watcher witch? I’ll leave the heavy lifting to you three.”

That mollified Spike. He wasn’t sure just how well Connor knew Buffy, but he knew Angel’s brat was always up for a fight. And he knew Connor had fought at Buffy’s side. He’d seen it in the years he and Angel had been Buffy’s partners. Spike had never shared well with Angel but for Buffy they both had been willing. She loved them both so why make her chose? She hadn’t. They had lived together most of the time, apart some as their jobs pulled them all over the world stopping the evil – something he would never have predicted. 

Even when the physical aspect came to an end as Buffy aged, they all stayed close with her and her friends, with her sister. Buffy was the last of them to go at an outstanding age of ninety. Oh, she hadn’t been out there slaying for decades, but Spike knew she itched to, in spite of the betrayal of her aging body. Her passing had been so quiet. She was living with Dawn as her ‘grandmother’ and had gone to sleep never to wake up. He and Angel had wept for weeks. 

And then it occurred to them that Dawn was alone. She, like Connor, still looked twenty something. They knew for years Connor was immortal, thanks to Illyria but it had long been obvious Dawn could well be eternal too. That left her with precious few friends who wouldn’t age and die. Spike’s heart had broken all over again with that realization.

“I can’t believe she’s been gone for twenty-five years already,” Angel whispered.

Spike stifled a sob. That’s what this idiotic reunion was all about, celebrating a quarter century without her. Surely it couldn’t have been so long, but his soul knew it was. Angel’s did as well; the pain in his eyes screamed as much.

“It doesn’t seem real,” Dawn muttered.

Spike hoisted his beer. “We’ll take this place by storm. We’ll remind them all who Buffy the Slayer was.”

Angel clinked his bottle to Spike’s. “They’ll never forget her so long as we’re here.”

Spike smiled, happy for a moment to have Angel at his side. “Here’s to never forgetting.”

Nothing would ever displace Buffy in their hearts. Other loves might visit them but there would always be only one Buffy.


End file.
